This invention relates to power packs, and more particularly to highly modular semiconductor power packs.
A power pack is a switching unit that converts the available electrical power to voltage and current values required by a unit of electronic equipment. In today's growing electronic industry, there is a great demand for low profile, low inductance, highly modular, and thermally efficient power packs. The demand may be greatest in the power electronics industry where power packs handle high voltage and high current applications. Further, today's consumer and industrial power electronics applications demand high temperature, high frequency, modular, light weight, and low profile equipment having a construction which is suitable for mass production. These applications include AC switches, motor drives, and multiple phase inverters.
Prior art devices provide power semiconductor power packs having a top lid, base plate, and power semiconductor device which is sandwiched between the lid and plate. In the prior art, the lid and power semiconductor device are attached using duck feet or copper balls to allow electrical conduction through the lid. Additionally, the prior art includes power packs having a driver circuit stacked on the power semiconductor device between the lid and base plate. These devices do not provide an isolated cooling for the driver circuit, parallel cooling for the driver circuit and power semiconductor device, extremely low thermal resistance for the power semiconductor device and driver circuit, simple interface capability, two sided cooling, and the capability of being stacked and interconnected to form larger more complex power packs.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel highly modular semiconductor power pack that operates at elevated temperatures near 100 degrees Celsius.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel power semiconductor switch having improved thermal management.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel semiconductor power pack having a power semiconductor device, driver circuit, and thermal management for the driver circuit and power semiconductor device.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel low volume low cost power pack for high frequency and high temperature applications.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel thin stackable power pack having an on-board driver circuit and isolated thermal management for the driver circuit.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a novel universal power pack having self-contained thermal management and electrically isolated control.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an improved power semiconductor pack having a power semiconductor switch sandwiched between thermal management and electrical conduction layers and having driver circuitry and thermal management means for the driver circuitry affixed to the sandwich layers.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.